Eco-Innovation and Directionality

Jonas Kreutzer

2023-09-12

Environmental Innovation

Eco-Innovation = Green Innovation = Environmental Innovation

…fewer adverse effects on the environment and more efficient use of resources (García-Granero et al., 2018, p. 305).

Types of Eco-Innovation

Product
101	Use new cleaner material or new input with lower environmental impact
102	Use of recycled materials
103	Reduction / optimization of raw material use
104	Component number reduction
105	Elimination of dirty components
106	Longer life cycle products
107	Recyclability of product

Process
201	Reduce Chemical Waste
202	Reduce Use of Water
203	Reduce Use of Energy
204	Keep waste to a minimum
205	Reuse of components
206	Recycle waste, water or materials
207	Environmental-friendly technologies
208	R&D
209	Acquisition of machinery and software
210	Acquisition of patents and licenses

Organizational
301	Green human resources
302	Pollution prevention plans
303	Environmental objectives
304	Environmental audit
305	Environmental advisory
306	Invest in research
307	Cooperation with stakeholders
308	New markets
309	New systems (remanufacturing systems and transport systems)

Marketing
401	Returnable/reusable packaging
402	Green design packaging
403	Quality certifications

(García-Granero et al., 2018, pp. 309–311) {.slide-cite}

eco-innovation \(\neq\) sustainable technology

Beemsterboer & Kemp (2016)

Directionality

Directed Technical Change

Example paper: Moscona & Sastry (2022)

Question Is innovation in plants directed to increase yield, or resilience of crops?

Data U.S. patent data, Plant variety protection certificates & U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Variety Name List

Main Finding Innovation directed to more resilient crops, driven by local climate conditions

Directionality

: relating to direction or guidance especially of thought or effort

Later this led to the mantrathat government policy should be “technology neutral” (Azar and Sand ́en, 2011), which in effect means that the directionof technological progress in not an issue for politicaldebate and deliberation. (pdf)

(Andersson et al., 2021, p. 110)

Reading questions

What is the position of Aghion et al. (2021) on directionality? How is this discussion treated? What are their normative (implicit) assumptions about technology, innovation and sustainability?

Aghion et al. (2021) mention path dependence. What does this mean? How does it arise? How does this fit into the study of innovation?

Aghion et al. (2021) discuss the use of intermediate technology, how do you think about this in terms of developing countries?

What is meant by sociotechnical systems? > interaction of society and technology, through institutions, material and behavior

Eco-Innovation and Directionality in an African Context

Mulugetta et al. (2022)

Reading Question On the diffusion of green innovation, they argue that every country has an incentive to free ride on others efforts. When taking a global perspective, it seems a geopolitically motivated race emerges between china and the us who will be the front runners of green innovation. How does this fit in with the free rider narrative?

The figure illustrates stylized country-specific solution spaces of the set of different meaningful energy system pathways to meet development goals. It assumes the long-term vision of African countries to achieve clean and sustainable energy systems with universal electricity access. Larger solution space areas indicate larger degrees of uncertainty as to which energy system pathways optimize development outcomes. In Ethiopia, the short-term and long-term favourability of focusing on renewable energy limits these uncertainties, whereas Mozambique has a much wider range of potential pathway options with salient short-term versus long-term development opportunity and risk trade-offs. Pathways are illustrative only

Policy

Market Tools

Taxation and Subsidies

For example contained in,

Bidenomics
EU Green Deal

Systemic Tools

IVL - Swedish Environmental Institute (Bergquist & Söderholm, 2011)

Transition Tools

Mazzucato (2016)

Appendix

Drawings Environmental Innovation

Drawings Directionality

Drawings Policy

References

Aghion, P., Antonin, C., & Bunel, S. (2021). The power of creative destruction: Economic upheaval and the wealth of nations. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Beemsterboer, S., & Kemp, R. (2016). Sustainability Assessment of Technologies. In H. Heinrichs, P. Martens, G. Michelsen, & A. Wiek (Eds.), Sustainability Science (pp. 71–83). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7242-6_6

Bergquist, A.-K., & Söderholm, K. (2011). Green Innovation Systems in Swedish Industry, 1960. Business History Review, 85(4), 677–698. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007680511001152

García-Granero, E. M., Piedra-Muñoz, L., & Galdeano-Gómez, E. (2018). Eco-innovation measurement: A review of firm performance indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production, 191, 304–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.04.215

Mazzucato, M. (2016). From market fixing to market-creating: A new framework for innovation policy. Industry and Innovation, 23(2), 140–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2016.1146124

Moscona, J., & Sastry, K. A. (2022). Does Directed Innovation Mitigate Climate Damage? Evidence from U.S. Agriculture*. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, qjac039. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac039

Mulugetta, Y., Sokona, Y., Trotter, P. A., Fankhauser, S., Omukuti, J., Somavilla Croxatto, L., Steffen, B., Tesfamichael, M., Abraham, E., Adam, J.-P., Agbemabiese, L., Agutu, C., Aklilu, M. P., Alao, O., Batidzirai, B., Bekele, G., Dagnachew, A. G., Davidson, O., Denton, F., … Yussuff, A. (2022). Africa needs context-relevant evidence to shape its clean energy future. Nature Energy, 7(11), 1015–1022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01152-0